Development of a Device that Identify Volatile Gases in Halitosis: Efficacy Assessment in a Sample of Elderly People

The proposed study aims to verify the effectiveness of the developed device capable of recognizing and measuring halitosis. This is a qualitative, descriptive and exploratory research that will use the experimental method for the purpose of creating and verifying the effectiveness of a device that recognizes volatile gases in halitosis. For the design of the device, through analysis of the main components present in these halimeters, the best way to build a halimeter was sought based on the Arduino, which is composed of a RISC Microcontroller, and uses C/C as a programming language. C++ and to capture the gases the MQ-135 sensor was selected. For testing purposes, it happened in a sample of institutionalized elderly residents in a city in the interior of the state of Minas Gerais, composing the sample of 16 participants who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data collection took place through the control group in 3 (three phases), where, phase 1 application of the health condition questionnaire, phase 2 the handling of the device without proper mouth hygiene and in phase 3 the repetition of phase 2 however, participants performing proper mouth hygiene. The results reveal that 100% of the participants are female with a mean age of 73,125 years old, between 60 and 94 years old; 50% of the elderly women have dental calculus, 56.3% have visible biofilm and 93.8% have hygiene difficulties; as for the functioning of the device, it identified the good functioning with regard to the expected, with no failure during the applicability of the exam in any of the stages, evidencing the effectiveness of the device in measuring and assisting in the diagnosis of halitosis; 94% of the elderly women did not express complaints during the phase 2 examination and 87% in phase 3; stating that most n=14 of the elderly women indicated halitosis in phase 2 and in phase 3 only 5 indicated halitosis, effectively demonstrating that adequate hygiene and mouth care contributes to the absence of the pathological condition of bad breath and confirms the effectiveness of the device to which proposed. It was concluded that it was possible to attest in the sample of elderly women that halitosis is in fact an oral health problem present in this population and that it needs care and routine monitoring by their caregivers regarding the hygiene condition; as for the developed device, it was found to be efficient due to its characteristics, with no limitation, being able to be used as a diagnostic resource by dental professionals in different contexts.